Bulls take Game 4 from Nets 142-134 in triple OT

Heroes abound as Robinson scores unbelievable 34 and club earns 3-1 lead in series

April 27, 2013|By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter

When an epic affair like the Bulls' 142-134 triple overtime victory over the Nets finally collapses at the finish line — 3 hours, 57 minutes after Saturday's matinee tipoff — the number of big plays and big contributors can be dizzying.

Sometimes, they can mask the subtle contributions or fundamentally-sound decisions or dirty work.

But not inside the Bulls' locker room, which is a big reason it proved such a joyous place to be after they took a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Monday at Brooklyn. The Bulls are 12-0 in their decorated franchise history when leading a series by that margin.

"The basketball gods were on our side," Joakim Noah said.

The Bulls don't win this game without Nate Robinson's best Michael Jordan impression, which featured an individual 12-0, fourth-quarter run, a franchise-playoff-record 34 points by a reserve and a ridiculous 23-point fourth quarter, one off Jordan's franchise playoff mark.

They don't rally from a 14-point deficit with 3:45 remaining in regulation without Noah's gritty double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Or Kirk Hinrich's own double-double of 18 points and 14 assists and relentless hounding of Deron Williams. Or Carlos Boozer's metronomic consistency of 21 points and eight rebounds.

But they also don't win if Jimmy Butler doesn't collapse from the weak side to block Gerald Wallace's wide-open tip-in attempt with 1 second left in regulation after Hinrich and Taj Gibson contested Williams' miss.

And they don't win if savvy veteran Nazr Mohammed, who hadn't played since the 6:57 mark of regulation, doesn't see that Gibson, Noah and Boozer all have five fouls after the second overtime and, like a closer in baseball, begins stretching to get loose.

Sure enough, 39 seconds into the third overtime, Noah fouls out and Mohammed calmly drops in a Hinrich assist from the lane with 32.6 seconds remaining for a five-point lead. After Brook Lopez scored with 21.2 seconds left to make it a one-possession game again, Mohammed beat Andray Blatche to rebound Boozer's missed free throw and scored again.

Who else would rebound the Nets' final miss, Joe Johnson's harmless 3-pointer than Mohammed?

That's the epitome of these Bulls and this victory: Never get down. Always stay ready. And in the classic words of coach Tom Thibodeau, do your job.

"The game wasn't going our way and our guys just kept battling," Thibodeau said. "That's something they've done all year. Our team showed a lot of toughness."

Few come tougher than the 5-foot-9, 180-pound former football player that is Robinson. His fourth-quarter spree, which featured several shots with a high degree of difficult, exhausted the adjective supply in the postgame locker room. And it came after Robinson was leveled by a Gerald Wallace screen in the backcourt that flattened him and rattled his senses.

"He might be the best under-6-foot player ever," Noah said.

The Nets would have led by 16 with 3:16 left in regulation if former Bull C.J. Watson had not missed an all-alone breakaway dunk.

In the first overtime, Robinson banked home a ridiculously difficult 23-foot runner over Williams with one foot on the 3-point line with 2 seconds remaining. But Johnson dropped home an 8-footer — his second clutch shot in the final 12 seconds — and more free basketball followed.

In the second overtime, Johnson's three-point play and Lopez splitting two free throws with 48.7 seconds left erased the Bulls' four-point lead. Robinson fouled out, Deng and Johnson traded misses and then Lopez blocked Noah on a broken play with 1.9 seconds left.

Finally, the Bulls broke free in the third extra period. Noah sank a jumper before fouling out. Butler overpowered Williams for an offensive rebound and layup. Gibson swished a baseline jumper for a five-point lead. Mohammed delivered his late-game contributions.

When it ended, the crowd didn't want the party to stop. They stood and serenaded the glory and the grit.

"I'm just a fierce competitor," Robinson said. "I hate to lose and love to win."

He's surrounded by teammates, coaches and executives who are the same way.